Why Does The New Kitten Follow And Copy The Older Cat All Day Long?

[Oleanderlight]

So my older cat is 12 a senior already and i brought in a 4 month old kitten about 3 weeks ago. The first week the kitten didn't follow the older cat and only stayed around me, even hissed at the older cat. And now she follows her all day long, everywhere! She is always near her, tries to play, and copies her behavior for example when older cat sleeps kitten sleeps until older cat wakes up. And older cat always hisses when the kitten comes too close or pounces at her. Why is the kitten obsessively following her/ copying her? The kitten doesn't hiss at older cat anymore.

 

[Willowy]

Awww! How cute! That's how kittens learn how to cat, of course.

One kitten can be a bit of a pain to an older cat. Is it at all a possibility to get another kitten? They way they can still look up to the older cat but not depend on her for all kitty interactions. If not, make an effort to play with the kitten a lot so she doesn't annoy the older cat too much.

 

[Oleanderlight]

Awww! How cute! That's how kittens learn how to cat, of course.

One kitten can be a bit of a pain to an older cat. Is it at all a possibility to get another kitten? They way they can still look up to the older cat but not depend on her for all kitty interactions. If not, make an effort to play with the kitten a lot so she doesn't annoy the older cat too much.

Ah i see. Thank you for your answer! Yes i will play with her more I just hope she doesn't learn the hissing behavior haha

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS.

How is your 12 year old cat reacting to her new "sibling". Sometimes kittens can become annoying to older cats. So watch your senior and make sure she's eating, drinking, using the litter box, sleeping, etc., normally.

If things are going well, you probably don't need the tips, but just in case, here's a TCS article on How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat

 

[IronHippo]

We joke that Marple, our ~4 year old first cat, would get a restraining order against Radish, our 10 month old second cat, if she could. He's very obsessed with her, and has been since he first laid eyes on her at 10 weeks old. He'll lie on her, groom her, follow her, chase her, flop down next to her and stare, watch her go to the bathroom, let her eat his food... Marple tolerates him for the most part, smacks him around or ignores/avoids him depending on her mood, but will instigate play at least once every day. Like Willowy said, his creepy-cute kitten obsession with Marple is how he learned to be a cat. E.g. he stopped using claws on me while playing after she smacked him around a few times, and he learned how to hunt bugs from watching her. If Marple does something, he's going to do it, too.

One thing my husband and I work hard on is making sure Marple feels safe, because she is a petite cat and Radish is currently larger but weighs less but is probably going to outweigh her by a pound or two once fully grown. Radish gets crazy twice a day, and he is a much larger package for Marple to deal with at his size now than he was at 6 weeks. If Marple seems defensive or harassed by Radish, we'll intervene--either by distracting Radish with a toy (he likes the fishing rod type ones) or putting ourselves between them so she can get away. Sometimes Marple will come trotting towards one of us with Radish on her heels or will hide under our legs, and that's a definite sign that she's looking for our help dealing with Radish. So in addition to playing lots with your kitten, I would also recommend keeping an eye on your older cat and giving her a safe place to retreat to when she feels overwhelmed! A 12 year old senior kitty will probably have trouble keeping up with a kitten, especially when the kitten gets bigger but is still full of kitten energy, and with Marple, my theory was that it was more important for Marple to feel secure than it was for me to dote on Radish (he was, and still is, very cute...so this is hard). So play with your kitten, wear her out, and don't forget to reassure senior kitty that she's still senior kitty!

Here's an example of what Marple has to deal with every day...

 

[danteshuman]

I agree with IronHippo . I also think you should give your senior cat an hour or two every day with the kitten/minion locked in a kitten room. That way your senior cat can get extra attention plus a break from the annoying kitten.